Within the human body various healing responses to injury, tissue damage, inflammation and other conditions often includes the formation of scar tissue and scar tissue buildup. Generally speaking, scaring takes place as the body develops a network of relatively strong, tough tissues. These tissues often form networks of stronger, tougher fibrous tissues which invade and permeate softer body tissue.
Scar tissue, often referred to as “adhesions” is created as a temporary patching and repair mechanism for wounds caused by injury or surgery. Scar tissue may also form as a result of highly repetitive motions such as throwing a ball or operating a keyboard or other computer input device. The repetitive stress often associated with such activities may cause muscles to tighten up and therein cause friction and inflammation between layers of moving body tissue. When a muscle tightens up, swelling often occurs restricting the oxygen supply to the muscles and connective tissue. Scar tissue or adhesions may be produced by the lack of oxygen together with friction and inflammation from these repetitive type of activities.
One example of such scar tissue formation is generally known as “carpal tunnel” syndrome in which scar tissue and adhesions often form within the body and are primarily resident in the muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and joints which interact with and often surround associated nerves and blood vessels.
When an injury occurs, the body responds with a complex sequence of operations. Specialized cells called fibroblasts resident beneath the skin surface initially move into a provisional wound matrix, often referred to as a clot, and start secreting collagen to stabilize the injury as quickly as possible. This wound matrix is initially soft and is heavily loaded with growth factors. The fibroblast move about the matrix pulling and reorganizing the fibers. The matrix then grows stiffer and, at a certain point, the action of the fibroblasts changes into powerful contractal cell action which in turn anchors the cells to the matrix pulling the edges of the wound together. Since there are no blood vessels that nourish this fibrotic tissue, it dries and constricts becoming dead, rigid and inflexible. If the scar tissue and adhesions remain after their usefulness has expired, they often trap and contract around nerves causing pain and impairing movement.
While such scar tissue formation may be an important part of body response to trauma, inflammation and other stresses imposed upon the body, over time scar tissue can become a source of pain and difficulty. All too frequently, scarring can lead to undesired and painful conditions which persist long after the healing response to the original trauma has been completed. Such persistent scarring and the more extensive condition often referred to as “over scarring” may occur from skin surface regions to deep body regions and joint areas.
The pain and other problems associated with residual scar tissue buildup creates a need in the art for ever more improved treatment apparatus and methods of treatment directed toward reducing and removing scar tissue buildup and residual networks of scar tissue.
In addition to scar tissue formation created problems, a variety of other problems and conditions arise in the body such as tissue inflammation, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonosis, muscle spasms, trapped nerves, motion range limitations, contractures, neuromas, adhesions, knee problems, tennis elbow, headaches, TMJ and gout as well as back, shoulder and ankle pain.
Confronted with the wide variety of injuries, maladies and other condition which cause pain, suffering and limitations of movement within the body, practitioners in the art have endeavored to provide suitable and effective therapeutic devices and methods of treatment. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,095 issued to Libin sets forth a PRESSURE-POINT ATTACHMENT FOR USE WITH ELECTRICAL HANDHELD MASSAGERS designed to slip upon the vibrating head of a handheld electrical vibrator. The attachment is used to apply point-pressure combined with vibration to body tissue points that correspond to body organs, nerves and glands as disclosed in the field of reflexology massaging. The attachment is formed of a circular disk having a conical finger extending from the center of the disk.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,321 issued to Albach, et al. sets forth a HAND MANIPULATED BODY MASSAGER having an enclosed casing for massage application to the body. The casing includes a cylindrical body wall and hemispherical end wall which is vibrated by a gyratory motor supported therein. The remaining end of the casing is closed by a cover which presents a cylindrical rim attached to the casing together with a tapered nose extension for facial or scalp massage attachments.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,621 issued to Kohr sets forth a MASSAGING DEVICE which includes a motor integrated within a housing, a shaft for transmitting motor motion, a treatment head attachable to the shaft and a control circuit for rotational speed control. The set point of the rotational speed of the motor is manually adjustable.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,229,424 issued to Jones, et al. sets forth a HANDHELD MASSAGE DEVICE WITH REMOVABLE HANDLE which provides a modular apparatus allowing the user the option of employing a roller mechanized massager with or without an elongated handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 942,299 issued to Wiking sets forth an MASSAGE DEVICE having an elongated handle supporting a rotating hand crank mechanism. The hand crank mechanism rotates an output shaft which extends from the elongated handle to an end unit which in turn includes a rotational offset weight apparatus providing vibratory energy when the hand crank is driven.
Published U.S. Patent Application U.S. 2002/0161315 filed on behalf of Harris, et al. sets forth a HAND-HELD PERCUSSIVE MASSAGER WITH ADJUSTABLE NODES utilizing a flat vibrating massage head and a pair of percussion massages nodes all of which is driven by a single internal driven unit. The percussion massage nodes are adjustable for width and are manually controlled by the flat massage head on the opposite side thereof.
A large number of different aesthetic designs for massage units have been provided by practitioners in the art in attempting to increase the attractiveness and usefulness of such handheld massagers. By way of example, Design U.S. Pat. D467,347S issued to Yang; Design U.S. Pat. D435,913S issued to Harris, et al.; Design U.S. Pat. D470,239S issued to Yang; Design U.S. Pat. D609,817S issued to Piller, et al. and Design Patent Des. 430,938 issued to Lee are illustrative of different aesthetic designs provided for handheld massage units.
In a related art, U.S. Pat. No. 7,320,691 issued to Pilcher, et al. sets forth an APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ACOUSTIC/MECHANICAL TREATMENT OF EARLY STAGE ACNE includes at least two skin contacting elements, the elements having narrow end faces and a mounting assembly for holding the elements closely adjacent to one another. A driving mechanism reciprocally moves one element relative to the adjacent elements at a frequency which provides action upon the skin pores to loosen sebaceous plugs present in the skin pores permitting removal from the skin.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,526,219 issued to Balamuth sets forth a METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ULTRASONICALLY REMOVING TISSUE FROM A BIOLOGICAL ORGANISM while U.S. Pat. No. 2,984,241 issued to Carlson and U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,683 issued to Idemoto, et al. sets forth a SURGICAL INSTRUMENT each illustrative of different handheld powered apparatus applied to tissue.
In a related art, a large size therapeutic device manufactured and distributed by Sonorex Corporation under the tradename Sonocour Orthopedic Extracorporeal Shockwave System provides an extra corporeal shockwave therapy device in which a shockwave is generated at the base of a shock tube by an electromagnetic acoustic source. The shockwave source includes a water-filled generator and an acoustic lens. The latter is operative to focus and direct the acoustic energy generated within the electromagnetic acoustic source.
While the foregoing described prior art devices have to some extent improved the art and in some instances enjoyed commercial success, there remains nonetheless a continuing and unresolved need in the art for handheld therapeutic apparatus which is effective in treating resistant and troublesome painful tissue such as scar tissue and the like through the use of effective energy waves introduced to the body tissue at a desired amplitude and frequency which is optimized for the tissue malady.